I’m at a place in life, at least temporarily, where I have to let others do all sorts of things for me. The limitations of my heart at this point keep me from much physical exertion. At the same time I (we) have things that need attention. So at the time I am writing this:
(1) Yesterday, a neighbor helped our son, Joel, to get the cover off the pontoon boat and install the batteries for the electric motor. (No gas motors allowed on our lake.) That’s the kind of thing I have done by myself every year up ‘till now.
(2) A furnace service man is in the basement cleaning the ducts of our heating/cooling system. I am not allowed to go down the steps to watch. I’m not supposed to climb the steps to get back up.
(3) Our washing machine broke down, and the repairman cannot get here until Monday or Tuesday. Our kind neighbor, Joe, has agreed to be here to let him in when we are not around.
(4) Joe will also take care of our cat in our absence. (You cat owners know what I mean.)
(5) Today (Saturday) volunteers from our local Covenant Church are coming to rake last year’s leaves from the steep hillside in front of our house. It’s a job I always hated, but we got it done without help before.
(6) Oh, yes, on Monday some highly skilled people will open my chest and make repairs to my heart! And all kinds of nice people on the nursing staff will do their best to ensure a good recovery.
(7) Any number of wonderful people from the four different churches around here where I have served in some capacity have prayed over me and will be praying for a good result from surgery.
How does it feel to have to need help? On the one hand it feels awkward to just watch others do things I could do, that is, I could do them a few months ago. But I need the help. And the help is here. Many loving and caring people are doing things for me. The trouble is, I am an independent kind of character. As an only child, I learned to play and work by myself. It seems abnormal for me to need so much help. But God has provided what I need at this time. And I am very thankful for everyone’s help. I am thankful so many people seem to be eager to come to my aid.
I am comforted by the thought that in a short time I will be back on my feet and more independent once again. But the time will come when my strength will diminish, my range of activity will grow smaller. When that happens I hope I will be like my father was in his advanced years. With no one prompting him, he came to the time when he decided to quit driving, and he gave away his car. At home he continued to greet visitors with the same eagerness and jovial spirit as ever, and he enjoyed the presence of both adults and children in the neighborhood who had come to love him.
That will be my goal. To always be thankful, to always be welcoming, to always be someone easy to love, and to be eager to show kindness and love in return. I think that’s the way Jesus intends us to live.
Kommentarer